Adapting your farm

There are many ways farmers can adapt/adjust their individual farming operations and systems to cope with climate change, and especially to manage the increased variability in climate that is expected and that some farmers are already experiencing.

Examples of adaptation options are listed below, but it is important to stress that it is impossible to determine which (if any) of these options or actions might be appropriate except in the context of the individual farm, the farming system, the available resources and the management capabilities. In addition, the scale of the challenge at individual farm level will be significantly influenced by the actions taken by the industry as a whole.

Livestock challenges and opportunities

There are both direct and indirect impacts on dairy cow management associated with a changed and more variable climate such as:

Higher temperatures can cause heat stress and have a direct effect on milk production. There is also a trend for reduced fertility of cows as a result of higher temperatures. This could make an existing problem worse in some dairy regions, or create a management challenge in regions that are currently marginal for heat stress.
Changes to pasture availability and/or quality as a result of changes in temperature and rainfall, will require a grazing management response and/or a calving time response.
At the extreme, genetic selection may need to take more account of a cow’s ability to perform at higher temperatures, though there are limitations to this strategy as more heat-tolerant livestock breeds usually have lower levels of productivity.

Pasture/forage challenges and opportunities

The combination of increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations, higher temperatures, lower rainfall and increased climate variability will challenge some aspects of the current dairy feedbase, while benefiting others. The overall challenge remains producing (and sometimes preserving) home grown forage of a suitable quality to match the feed requirements of the herd at a suitably low price to meet farm business requirements. In all cases, the scale of the response will depend on the scale of any climate changes.

Temperatures during winter will be warmer, and there will be fewer frosts in some regions, so pasture growth rates are likely to increase over winter. This may influence other decisions associated with calving time, grazing management, fertiliser (especially N) timing and amount, cutting times for hay or silage etc.
Feed gaps are likely to be more frequent, so feed purchasing and/or forage conservation activities may become more important as part of total farm management.
Irrigation allocations are likely to be lower in some regions, exacerbating current, or creating new feed gaps. Depending on the situation, a full review of the current forage base, including the annual/perennial pasture mix, and the use of forage crops may be required to match the farm forage system to the new climatic conditions. Irrigation scheduling rules may change, and the process itself may become more important if irrigation supplies are lower or more variable.
While there are more water use efficient options than perennial ryegrass pastures (eg maize for silage or lucerne for grazing), the profitable introduction of these into the farm forage supply and cow feeding systems can be a major challenge. Many crops will need to be sown earlier to take advantage of the higher spring temperatures – likewise, forage crops will mature earlier.

Business challenges and opportunities

Dairy farming is already about implementing the best possible business management strategies to ensure the production system can be adjusted as each season progresses – this will not change, but the challenge may be greater with increased climate variability, especially if input and milk price volatility continues. Some current management strategies may need revision.

At the strategic level, dairy farmers will need to determine which (if any) of the climate change issues should be the subject of immediate management action; those which require a watching brief but no current action, and those which can be dismissed from current planning or action.
The most profitable balance between the price of resources such as land and water (for home grown forage) and the cost of bought in fodder against the farm gate price of milk may become more variable and require more frequent adjustment.
It is very likely that there will need to be a greater focus on the use of water resources on the farm for both ‘dryland’ and irrigated dairies. Water security for non-irrigated farms and water use efficiency for irrigated farms will likely require more management attention.
Depending on how climate change impacts on the grain and fodder industries that supply supplementary feed for dairy farms, there may be different options, and some current options may become more or less available, higher or lower quality and more or less expensive.
Infrastructure adaptations may be appropriate on some farms to improve water security or to boost water use efficiency – for example, upgrading leaky systems or inefficient technologies. In response to increased heat stress, changing shed designs to incorporate passive cooling (energy use will be more expensive if a price is put on carbon emissions) may be appropriate, as will be maintaining or establishing shade and shelter belts.

Knowledge and skills challenges and opportunities

New knowledge and new skills will be required on dairy farms to ensure ongoing profitability and sustainability in the face of climate change and increased climate variability.

Some farms will need to develop the capacity to identify and react to heat stress in dairy cattle. In anticipation, Dairy Australia has developed the cool cows website
Other farms may need to develop the skills to assess business vulnerability, for example to reduced water allocations, or to a reduced ability to produce as much home grown feed.
The importance of keeping abreast of new developments will increase - from better understanding of pasture varieties and new adaptable species, through dairy cow nutrition and heat stress management, to business and risk management procedures.
Critically, many of the current ‘rules of thumb’ that simplify the day to day management on any farm and that govern the timing of management events and activities may break down in a hotter, drier and more variable climate. A simple example is that the ‘ideal’ dates for cutting silage or hay in any particular region are often linked to a certain date, or local event – increasingly, such ‘standard dates’ will be too late.
Finally, as well as adapting to climate change, it is likely that dairy farmers will have to reduce their on-farm emissions of greenhouse gases in response to Government legislation

References and resources

The issues and challenges for individual farms are explored more fully in Climate and my Region (a dairy region by region assessment) and the farm greenhouse gas calculator (where individual farms can calculate their emissions profiles).